Resumption of operations start at European PP, PE plants as crackers restart

28-Apr-15

European PP and PE plants are slowly resuming operations following shutdowns that lasted up to a month or more, according to ChemOrbis. The return of the polymer plants is following the restarts at upstream units while polyolefins’ supply in the region is yet to improve as force majeure declarations from these plants remain in place for now. Total, Versalis and Dow are planning to restart their crackers, with over 1 mln tpa of ethylene capacity, in late April. OMV is also expected to lift their force majeure on ethylene output from their 500,000 tpa cracker in Austria by the end of this month. Borealis restarted their PP plant at Kallo, Belgium in H2-April, with stocks expected to return to normal levels in mid-May. The company’s LDPE, LLDPE/HDPE and PP plants at Schwechat, Austria are also expected to resume full operations towards end April. However, the company’s force majeure declarations on PP and PE reportedly remain in place, according to ChemOrbis. Market sources reported that Polychim’s 230,000 tpa PP plant in Dunkirk, France was also in restart phase as of H2-April. The company declared force majeure on their PP supply due to a propylene shortage by around mid-March. Versalis’ 500,000 tpa Dunkirk cracker in France was expected to become fully operational at the end of last week while the status of the company’s PE plants is unknown. Versalis operates a 210,000 tpa LDPE and a 140,000 tpa LLDPE plant at the site. Market sources said that the company’s PE force majeure, declared in mid-March, continues. Players reported that LyondellBasell’s HDPE plant at Munchmunster, Germany has resumed operations while the company is yet to lift their force majeure on PE supply. The 230,000 tpa plant was shut in H2-March after experiencing technical issues. SABIC’s 175,000 tpa HDPE/LLDPE plant in Gelsenkirchen, Germany is also back on stream in line with their ethylene production. According to reports last week, the plant was running at improved rates, but force majeure, which was issued towards end March, persisted. Ineos’ HDPE plant at Lillo, Belgium was reportedly running at reduced rates. The company declared force majeure on HDPE from the 540,000 tpa plant in end-March. Sources said that Total’s 250,000 tpa HDPE plant at Gonfreville, France was expected to be back on stream by the end of this month. The company declared force majeure on HDPE supply from Gonfreville in early-April.